Artificial reef anchor structure

ABSTRACT

A container for underwater placement on a sea, lake or river bottom. The container has openings in the sides, top and bottom and is filled with ballast of large boulders, cobble, crushed coral, cast concrete modules or other materials. The openings allow water and water currents, as well as marine organisms, to pass freely therethrough. Over time, a wide assortment of marine organisms infiltrate and colonize the nooks, crevices and cavities of the ballast, thus utilizing the habitat as they would an artificial reef. One or more hitch points are provided on the container for attaching mooring lines for ships, boats, floating wind turbines or other floating structures, thereby allowing the artificial reef to anchor such structures.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to anchors and, more particularly, to aspecialized anchor that provides an artificial reef habitat that isattractive to a wide variety of underwater organisms.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Artificial reefs are found commonly around the world. Some areconstructed to protect harbors or beaches from wind, wave or tidalforces. These types of reefs are often constructed of large, bouldersized stones or concrete modules that are cast in a variety of shapesand sizes.

Reefs designed for protection purposes generally extend above the waterline so as to deflect the forces of wind, wave or tide. These protectiveartificial reefs can be of any size or shape; sometimes they arecircular, semi-circular, curved or straight. When they are constructedto abut a shoreline, they are sometimes called a break wall. When theyextend from the shoreline out into open water, they are sometimes calleda jetty. Whatever they are called, they are, in essence, an artificialreef.

Artificial reefs are often favored by fishermen, because theirstructure, whether constructed of natural stone or concrete modules,creates prime shelter and habitat for a wide variety of marineorganisms, including desirable species such as fish, crab and lobsterthat are prized by both commercial fishermen and recreational sportsfishermen.

Other artificial reefs are constructed solely to enhance marine habitatand are designed to provide an underwater landscape replete with nooks,crannies, cavities, ledges and other subsurface features onto and intowhich marine organisms may attach or shelter. By providing cover andsanctuary for small organisms like algae, plankton and minnows, largerfish are attracted to forage. These fish, in turn, attract even largerfish, including sharks, tuna, bass, snapper, grouper and other largepredatory fish which are at the top of the marine food chain. Thesetypes of reefs are usually totally submerged and may be constructed inshallow water near shore or in deep water miles off shore. These typesof reefs may be constructed of almost any material or objects which willsink into the water column, including, but not limited to the following:natural stone, weighted tree stumps and brush, household appliances,cars, trucks, farm implements, school buses, scrap steel, subway andrailway cars, factory machinery and other. Additionally, any number ofdecommissioned naval and merchant ships of all sizes have been scuttledin deep water to provide artificial reef structure. These types of reefsmay also be constructed of cast concrete modules that may take a varietyof shapes and which may have cavities molded into them.

Increasingly, artificial reefs are becoming a part of the underwaterlandscape wherever there is a robust interest in fishing, either forcommercial or recreational purposes, or both. As example, many U.S.states with salt water territories actively construct artificial reefsfor use by recreational sports fishermen. The reef locations appear onnautical charts, and buoys are positioned over them so they may beeasily located by fishermen. Certain countries, notably Japan, constructartificial reefs on a large scale for use by their commercial fishingfleets. Wherever artificial reefs are constructed, they are widelyconsidered to be an enhancement to the marine environment and ecosystem.

A number of prior patents disclose artificial reefs specifically toattract and concentrate marine organisms. As example, U.S. Pat. No.4,947,791 to Laier et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,399 to Kikuzawa et al.and U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,019 to Kajihara show cylindrical structures thatare open on the ends and essentially porous on the sides. The porosityof the sides allows small fish and other organisms, as well as ambientwater currents, to freely pass through the sides. The interior spaces ofthe structures provide sanctuary to small fish and other organisms,while limiting access to larger, predatory fish. In each of the patents,the disclosed structures can be utilized individually or in plurality.The device disclosed by Laier et al. is buoyant, and therefore suspendsoff the bottom and is held in place by a tether line attached to ananchor. The reefs taught by Kikuzawa and Kajihara are of sufficientdensity that they sink through the water column and rest on the bottomwithout the need of an anchor or retaining stake.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,301 to Pederson and U.S. Pat. No. 6,712,024 to Halldisclose inventions utilizing tire casings for the construction ofartificial reefs. The Pederson device shows a habitat structurecomprising tire casings baled together to form a series of chambers andcavities in which fish and other organisms can find refuge. The densityof the tire casings allows them to rest on the bottom without anchorageassist. Hall shows a string of tire casings linked together andsuspended vertically in the water column, with the top end attached to aflotation device and the lower end attached to an anchor means.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,454,665 to Hughes and U.S. Pat. No. 6,467,993 to Utteret al. show artificial reef components comprising vertical, pole-likestructures that extend upward from the marine bottom into the watercolumn. Each device is designed to function with other, like units. TheHughes structure comprises a buoyant rod attached flexibly to an anchorbase; Utter shows a string of multi-chambered bodies sharing a cableline, with one end of the cable attached to a flotation device and theopposing end attached to an anchor. Each structure has the ability toheel over, or sway, in response to tidal currents or wave impacts.

All the above cited patents share the common feature of providingstructure to serve as sanctuary, refuge and attachment surface formarine organisms ranging from algae to crabs and lobsters and finnedfishes. While a number of the above cited patents employ means to holdthem in place on the marine bottom, none of the above patents functionsas an anchor for mooring floating vessels or structures. In summary,none of the above artificial reefs can in any respect serve the functionof an anchor for anything but itself.

Anchor means cover a wide variety of sizes, shapes and designs, but maygenerally be assigned to two broad categories: stationary anchor meanswhich remain in one position on the sea, harbor, river or lake bottom;and portable anchor means which are carried aboard vessels, large orsmall, and which are lowered into water whenever anchorage is needed andthen hoisted back aboard when the vessel needs to continue passage.

Stationary anchor means are sometimes massive concrete or steelstructures, which rely on gross deadweight tonnage to hold them inplace. Generally, a stout cable, chain or hawse line runs from thislarge, submerged anchor to a buoy which floats on the surface of thewater. This buoy has stanchions, or stout chain rings, onto which boatsor ships may tie their mooring lines. Other stationary mooring anchorsare steel, concrete or wooden devices that are driven or buried deepinto the sea, harbor, river or lake bed, with a heavy line running fromthem to a surface mooring buoy or fixed structure.

As example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,734 to Mott shows a modular anchorsystem specialized for the stationary mooring of an offshore oildrilling platform. Mott discloses floatable components comprising arectangular foundation member and a ballast. The members are towed to anoffshore location, where the foundation member is submerged by theflooding of interior chambers. Once the foundation member is resting onthe marine bottom, the ballast is flooded to force it to sink onto thefoundation member, thereby unitizing the individual members into ananchorage foundation for the submerged legs of an oil drilling platform.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,944 to Van der Wal shows an anchor comprising two,oblong cylindrical hollow bodies joined by a series of spars. When thehollow chambers are flooded with water, they sink to the bottom, wherethey can be buried or driven into the underwater bed or floor to form ananchor for large vessels or floating structures.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,140 to Wight et al. shows a modular block anchor forsupporting guy wires for transmission towers and other land basedstructures. The anchor comprises a cradle, or base skid, onto which arestacked deadweight blocks. Individually, the blocks are transportable byhelicopter, but when assembled on the base skid they cumulatively canweigh dozens of tons. While designed for land use, the Wight et al.device could be used in underwater applications.

Portable anchors, which are carried aboard vessels, are generally muchlighter in weight, and derive their holding power from tongs, or flukes,which engage the bottom when the anchor is dragged across the floor ofthe water body on which the vessel floats. These drag embedded anchorsgenerally require long mooring lines to function effectively. Asexample, U.S. Pat. No. 3,015,299 to Towne et al. discloses a classicdrag embedded anchor, with the anchor comprising two large steel flukeshinged on a cross bar attached to a steel arm with a hitch point on thedistal end of the arm for attaching a heavy chain or hawse line.

The above described permanent and portable devices may inadvertentlyattract marine organisms, as will virtually any object which resides onsubmerged ground in either freshwater or salt water environment. Asexample, it is commonly known that offshore oil platforms in the Gulf ofMexico are attractive to a wide variety of game fish prized byfishermen. Similarly, bridge or dock pilings in freshwater lakes orrivers attract a variety of minnows and pan fish, which in turn attractpredatory game fish like bass and pike. While it is well known that suchstructures attract marine organisms, the underwater components of thesestructures are not in any sense a “reef,” as they do not have therequisite components of piled rocks, boulders, gravel, concrete modulesor crushed coral which create myriad nooks, crannies, ledges, crevicesand cavities which both natural and artificial reefs present. It isthese said features which attract marine organisms in the greatestvariety and quantity of numbers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention provides a container for underwater placement on a sea,lake or river bottom. The container has openings in the sides, top andbottom and is filled with ballast of large boulders or other materials.The openings allow water currents, as well as marine organisms, to passfreely therethrough. Over time, marine organisms colonize the cavityareas of the ballast, thus utilizing the habitat within the container asan artificial reef. One or more hitch points are provided on thecontainer for attaching mooring lines, thereby allowing the container toserve as an anchor for ships and other floating vessels.

As will be seen, one general object of the invention is to provide anartificial reef structure for mooring floating wind turbines and otherlarge floating structures.

Another object of the invention is to provide an artificial reef that isrelatively compact and containable within the walls of a manufacturedsilo, bin, hopper, box, drum, barrel or other man-made container whichcan be produced on a mass scale. Whatever form the container takes, thewalls and floor are semi-porous, so as to allow entry into and egressfrom the interior portions for marine organisms and ambient watercurrents, while retaining within the walls and floor a significantweight of ballast material, whether material is composed of largeboulders, stone cobble, gravel, sand, crushed coral, cast concretemodules or other material forms and in any combination thereof. Thisartificial reef may thus be regarded as a kind of contained rock pile,with vast interior volumes of cavities, nooks and crannies relative tothe rock pile's footprint.

One of the primary attending objects of the invention is to provide areef that is fashioned in such a way that it provides one or more securehitching points for one or more anchor lines from which to moor boats,ships, barges or other floating structures, including floating windturbines.

It should be noted that the invention is especially suited for themooring of floating wind turbines whenever they are arranged in aplurality of units, or in what is commonly called an off shore windfarm.

It is believed that no other prior inventions disclosed or so fardiscovered employ the dual characteristics of effective anchor meanscombined with artificial reef structure that is especially attractive tomarine organisms.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A complete understanding of the present invention may be obtained byreference to the accompanying drawings, when considered in conjunctionwith the subsequent, detailed description, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top view of a preferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a section view showing ballast material comprising largestones;

FIG. 3 a is a section view showing an alternate embodiment of theinvention having layered strata of ballast material comprising largestone, cobble sized stone, gravel and sand;

FIG. 4 is a side view of a plurality of floating wind turbines, shown insimplified form, moored to a plurality of units of the invention, alsoshown in simplified form;

FIG. 4 a is a side view of floating wind turbines and artificial reefunits in various suspended configurations;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of an alternate embodiment of theinvention; and

FIG. 5 a is a side view of the alternate embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The invention provides an underwater, ballast filled container withopenings in the sides, top and bottom. The openings allow watercurrents, as well as marine organisms, to pass freely therethrough. Overtime, marine organisms colonize the cavity areas of the ballast, thusutilizing the container as an artificial reef. One or more hitch pointsare provided on the container for attaching mooring lines, therebyallowing the container to serve as an anchor.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 5 a, the artificial reef 12 consists ofa container 10 with a plurality of openings 20 and a plurality ofmooring rings 22, onto which are attached a plurality of mooring lines24. Container 10 is filled with ballast 26.

As best seen in FIG. 2, container 10 is cylindrical, with a plurality ofmooring lines 24 radiating outward at 90 degrees spacing from eachother. While a circular, or cylindrical, container has certainadvantages relating to strength and efficiencies of manufacture,container 10 could also be square or any other closed geometric shape,including, but not limited to, octagonal, hexagonal, pentagonal ortriangular. The number of mooring lines 24 is also arbitrary, and couldbe any number.

Container 10 is constructed primarily of cast concrete, but othermaterials could be used, including, but not limited to, heavy chain linkfabric (commonly known as chain link fencing), steel, wood, compositeplastic or any combination thereof. Also, it should be noted that whilethey are not shown, reinforcing members could be integrated into theconstruction to stiffen and strengthen the container throughout, and atmooring stress points specifically. The mooring stress points are bestshown in FIG. 2, where they correspond generally to mooring rings 22.

The size of container 10 is arbitrary. However, for the invention toeffectively serve as an anchor means for structures as large as floatingwind turbines, container 10 and ballast 26 should have a combineddisplacement of a thousand tons or more. To achieve this displacementtonnage with preferred ballast like large boulders or stone cobblerequires that container 10 be approximately 30 feet high by 30 feet indiameter, or of a geometry that provides a similarly suitable interiorvolume of approximately 24,000 cubic feet.

As seen in FIG. 3, ballast 26 is composed of large chunks of naturalstone, which are irregular in shape but roughly uniform in size. Whethernatural stone, as shown in FIG. 3, or manufactured concrete forms, theirregularity of the shapes of ballast material 26 is preferred, as thiscreates myriad crevices, nooks, crannies, ledges and cavities when theballast material 26 is piled in a jumbled heap inside the walls ofcontainer 10. It is these nooks, crannies and cavities that provideshelter and refuge for marine organisms, including commerciallydesirable ones like lobsters, crabs, clams, oysters, mussels, flounder,sea bass, grouper and others.

As seen in FIG. 3 a, ballast 26 can be organized into stratified layers,as certain material types and sizes can be more attractive to specificvarieties of marine species. The bottom strata, for example, could becomposed of large boulder sized rocks, which is often preferred by suchfin fish as grouper, bass and others. The middle strata could becomposed of bowling ball sized stone cobble, which is preferred bysmaller fin fish and invertebrate species like crabs and lobsters. Theupper strata could be rough gravel topped with a layer of fine graveland sand, which is preferred as a spawning bed for a variety of marineorganisms.

Here, it should be noted that opening 20, in plurality, may assume avariety of sizes, shapes and spacing patterns on the same container 10.These sizes, shapes and spacing patterns may also vary from onecontainer to the next. As entioned above, ballast 26 may range fromlarge boulders roughly the size of a car, to pea sized gravel and sand.Correspondingly, the size of openings 20 may range from one or twosquare inches in size to square feet or even square yards in size.

The size of the crevices, nooks, crannies and cavity areas found amongstthe ballast 26 may also vary considerably, depending on the size of theballast material. Large boulders, for example, may provide passagewayclearances measuring in feet, thus accommodating large predatory fishlike striped bass, tuna, cod, sharks and others. Very fine ballastmaterial, like pea sized gravel and sand, may accord clearancesmeasuring only in fractions of square inches, which could accommodateonly small organisms like fish fry, shrimp, plankton and others.

As seen in FIG. 4, the invention can be utilized to moor a plurality offloating wind turbines 16, with more than one wind turbine 16 sharing acommon mooring to one unit of the invention, or container 10.

As seen in FIG. 4 a, container 10 may be suspended off the sea, lake orother marine bottom in a variety of configurations by attaching thecontainer 10 to mooring lines 24. The variety of configurations is notlimited to the ones shown in FIG. 4 a.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 5 a, the sum of these advantages is contained inone obvious embodiment of the invention, which allows for the ballast 26to be piled directly onto a large expanse of chain link or cable wovenfabric 30 that is laid flat on the ocean, lake, river or otherunderwater bed or floor. In this embodiment, mooring rings 22 arefastened to the edges of the fabric 30, with mooring lines 24 attachedthereto. To achieve the dead weight tonnage necessary to moor a largefloating structure like a wind turbine, the fabric 30 should be at least2,500 square feet in area. This would accommodate a rock pile ofboulders 26 weighing, in total, a thousand tons or more, which is thetonnage cited above as being necessary to moor a large floatingstructure like a wind turbine 16, individually or in plurality. Oncethis rock pile of boulders is deposited on the expanse of chain link orcable woven fabric 30, the expanse of fabric 30 is effectively anchoredin place, and can thus serve as a mooring station for floatingstructures and as an artificial reef for marine organisms.

Since other modifications and changes varied to fit particular operatingrequirements and environments will be apparent to those skilled in theart, the invention is not considered limited to the example chosen forpurposes of disclosure, and covers all changes and modifications whichdo not constitute departures from the true spirit and scope of thisinventive method.

Having described the invention, what is desired to be protected byLetters Patent is presented in the subsequent appended claims.

1. An artificial reef anchor structure for securing mooring lines tofloating structures while simultaneously providing habitat forunderwater organisms, comprising: containment means having aperturestherein, for retaining ballast and to allow marine organisms toinfiltrate said ballast through said apertures and at least one hitchpoint attached to said containment means for connecting mooring lines tosaid containment means; and ballast to anchor said containment meanswhile simultaneously creating habitat to attract marine organisms. 2.The artificial reef anchor structure in accordance with claim 1, whereinsaid containment means comprises a porous, retentive, mooring-capablecontainer.
 3. The artificial reef anchor structure in accordance withclaim 1, wherein said apertures are variable in size, shape andplacement pattern in the sides, top and bottom of said containmentmeans.
 4. The artificial reef anchor structure in accordance with claim1, wherein said ballast comprises a ballast material that is more densethan water, variable in material composition, variable in size andshape, and attractive to marine life.
 5. An artificial reef anchorstructure for providing an anchor for securing mooring lines to floatingstructures while simultaneously providing habitat for underwaterorganisms, comprising: a porous container having a plurality ofapertures to allow marine organisms to infiltrate said container throughsaid apertures and providing hitch points for mooring lines; and heavierthan water ballast disposed in said container for providing weightedmass to anchor said container and for creating a habitat to attractmarine organisms.
 6. The artificial reef anchor structure in accordancewith claim 5, further comprising mooring rings attached to saidcontainer for connecting mooring lines thereto.
 7. The artificial reefanchor structure in accordance with claim 5, wherein said containercomprises at least one from the group: cast concrete, chain link fabric,steel, wood, and composite plastic.
 8. The artificial reef anchorstructure in accordance with claim 5, further comprising a fabric ofmaterial on which said ballast is disposed, said fabric lying on thebottom of a body of water.
 9. The artificial reef anchor structure inaccordance with claim 8, wherein said fabric is selected from the group:chain link, wire mesh, cable mesh, cast concrete, steel, wood andcomposite plastic.
 10. The artificial reef anchor structure inaccordance with claim 5, further comprising a floating structureconnected to said container, said floating structure being selected fromthe group: wind turbine, power generator, oil or other drilling rig,aquaculture complex, fish pen complex, barge, floating casino, floatinghotel, house boat, boat, ship, buoy, mooring station, boat lift andstorage structure.
 11. The artificial reef anchor structure inaccordance with claim 8, further comprising a floating structureconnected to said fabric, said floating structure being selected fromthe group: wind turbine, power generator, oil or other drilling rig,aquaculture complex, fish pen complex, barge, floating casino, floatinghotel, house boat, boat, ship, buoy, mooring station, boat lift andstorage structure.
 12. The artificial reef anchor structure inaccordance with claim 5, wherein the shape of said apertures is selectedfrom the group: round, oblong, rectangle, polygon and irregular.
 13. Theartificial reef anchor structure in accordance with claim 5, whereinsaid ballast comprises materials arranged in strata.